The Evolver

This Halloween edition of The Evolver we look at witchery as a spiritual practice. The witches are rising, reintroducing our culture to the importance of natural cycles, the intelligence of the body, the prevalence of occult energies, and the profound healing potential of plants. Ken’s guest, Pam Grossman, sees the return of the witch as a global movement — a part of fourth wave feminism, and an embrace of rebellious feminine power. But Pam herself is a longtime practicing witch for whom the archetype is much more than a symbol. It’s a way of orienting yourself in a world that’s alive with magic. 

Pam Grossman is a writer, curator and teacher of magical practice and history. She hosts The Witch Wave podcast and is author of the comic What is a Witch, and the forthcoming book Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic and Power, to be released next year. In 2017, she launched WitchEmoji, a witch-themed sticker pack for iMessage that became the #1 seller in the App Store. 

You can find more from Pam on her website, http://www.PamGrossman.com, as well as on her blog http://www.Phantasmaphile.com and on her Instagram, @Phantasmaphile.

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. At The Alchemist’s Kitchen, we are now in the Season of the Witch — a celebration of the Feminist, Counter-mainstream Witch Movement. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20.  

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

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If meditation didn’t exist, would scientists have had to invent it? Dr. Daniel Siegel is a scientist by training and disposition who found his way, unbeknownst to himself, into creating a powerful, innovative meditation technique that is now used by many thousands of people. As he discusses with Ken in today’s episode, Dan came to it as a psychiatrist with no prior experience of meditation. But his study of the brain and body and how to treat his suffering patients led him to develop a set of practices that he calls The Wheel of Awareness. After the fact he discovered that the Wheel weaves together the three pillar meditation practices that have been studied by scientific researchers into a single exercise — focused attention meditation, open awareness, and compassion training. 

Dr. Daniel Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, a founding co-director of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, and the executive director of the Mindsight Institute. He is the NY TImes bestselling author many books, including Brainstorm and Mindsight, and co-author of Parenting from the Inside Out and The Whole Brain Child. His new book, Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence, is a hands on guide for the groundbreaking meditation practice, The Wheel of Awareness, and looks in depth at the science that underscores meditation’s effectiveness.  

You can find out more about Daniel Siegel and his work at http://www.drdansiegel.com. 

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20.  

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nature is speaking to all of us with a gentle insistence, asking us to pay attention to so much that modern society has taught us to ignore. Robin Rose Bennett is one of the innovative teachers of a new generation of plant conscious people who are learning to how to listen in a modern way. She is a renowned herbalist who combines study of indigenous practices with the scientific understanding of the healing properties of plants. Through her work, she gives voice to the healing wild food and medicine plants which surround us. This show is filled with specific suggestions and practical advice about how to embody your connection to plants in your daily life. 

Robin Rose Bennett is an herbalist, green witch, and author of two spoken word meditation CD's, Moon Meditations and Ocean Meditations. She is also author of two books, Healing Magic-A Green Witch Guidebook to Conscious Living, and The Gift of Healing Herbs- Plant Medicines and Home Remedies for a Vibrantly Healthy Life. 

Find more about Robin on her website, www.RobinRoseBennett.com. She has a plant medicine series on You Tube, and posts on Instagram under @RobinRoseBennett, and WiseWoman Healing Ways is her Facebook page. Upcoming classes include a webinar with Susun Weed on Nov 11th on herbs for chakra healing, and the Art of Herbal Medicine Making series at the NY Open Center beginning on November 13.

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. At The Alchemist’s Kitchen, we are now in the Season of the Witch — a celebration of the Feminist, Counter-mainstream Witch Movement. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20.

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Visionary artists draw maps of the ineffable for the rest of us. In today’s episode, Alex Grey talks with Ken about his approach to this visionary plane, and the steps it took for him to give himself fully to expressions of the cosmic. In the process, they discuss Alex’s deep connection to Ram Dass, his thoughts about gurus, about working with shadow material, the drug war, and what it’s like to see your artwork tattooed on thousands of people. They also dive into the inspiration behind the Sacred Mirrors - the series of 21 paintings of spiritual states that took Alex a decade to complete - and the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, or CoSM, the home of those paintings and as well as a home base for Visionary Art and psychedelic spirituality in upstate NY. 

Alex Grey is the author of Sacred Mirrors, Transfigurations, The Mission of Art, and Art Psalms. His work has graced numerous album covers including those of Nirvana, TOOL, and the Beastie Boys; and been exhibited throughout the world. In 2004, Alex and his wife, artist Allyson Grey, opened the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM) in New York City, a gallery and sacred space for Alex’s original paintings and other visionary artworks. In 2009, CoSM, now a church, moved from Manhattan to the Hudson Valley.

You can find out more about Alex Grey and his work at http://www.cosm.org and at http://www.alexgrey.com. 

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20.  

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Season of the Witch, Ep. 2” - Tarot has returned as a popular intuitive practice, and The Wild Unknown Tarot, a New York Times bestseller, has become one of the definitive decks of the decade. Kim Krans’ delicate and numinous pen and ink deck has an indie music confidence about it.  As Kim discusses with Ken on today’s episode, The Wild Unknown deck, and the decks and books since, appeared as she opened herself toward synchronistic and mystical currents in her own life — then led her in directions that she never saw coming. Her new book, The Wild Unknown Journal, invites you to be a co-creator — to draw or paint in collaboration with the suggestive images Kim offers as a starting point. 

Artist and author Kim Krans received her BFA at Cooper Union in NYC, MFA at Hunter College, and is currently pursuing a MA in Jungian psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in California. She teaches events and workshops that activate the forces of creativity and radical transformation through creative practices, meditation, and movement. Kim lives on the west coast where she surfs, draws, and wonders at those big wonders of life.  You can meet Kim in the coming weeks touring for The Wild Unknown Journal — the dates are on her website. 

You can find out more about Kim Krans at http://www.thewildunknown.com and on Instagram @kim_krans. 

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. At The Alchemist’s Kitchen, we are in the Season of the Witch — a celebration of the Feminist, Counter-mainstream Witch Movement. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20.  

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The McKenna brothers — Terence and Dennis — are widely regarded as having paved the gringo road to the Amazonian plant medicine experience. Dennis’ exploration of this territory dates back a half century, and he is among its most knowledgeable cartographers. In this episode, he and Ken discuss questions that arise when entheogens are an important part of your life: What’s the difference between a plant psychedelic and a chemical? How should you choose a shaman? What role does integration play following a plant medicine journey? Are the entities you encounter under the influence of DMT real? What is actually going on when you trip?          

Dennis McKenna is an American ethnopharmacologist, lecturer and author. He is a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization concerned with the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines. He is an adjunct professor in the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota. McKenna’s research led to the development of natural products for the Aveda Corporation, as well as greater awareness of natural products and medicines more broadly. He has authored or co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and written books, including “The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna”, and co-author of “The Invisible Landscape” with his brother Terence. He is also on the advisory board of the Soltara Healing Center in Costa Rica, where he leads retreats. 

To learn more about Dennis McKenna and his many projects and events, visit his events page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dennis.mckenna.94

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. At The Alchemist’s Kitchen, we are now entering the Season of the Witch — a celebration of the Feminist, Counter-mainstream Witch Movement. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20.  

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Season of the Witch, Ep. 1” - The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM), is among the most vibrant, innovative, and long-lived transformational communities on the East Coast. It revolves around the Visionary Art of painters Alex and Allyson Grey. Located about 2 hours north of New York City along the Hudson River in the town of Wappingers Falls, CoSM has long been a community where the psychedelic approach to the visionary experience is honored and supported, and the role of creativity in transformation is given pride of place.

In today’s episode, Ken talks with CoSM’s head witch and den mother, Allyson Grey, about how she approaches her art as a form of service to others. She speaks directly to what it takes to create and nurture a community devoted to spiritual ideals — as a form of art. CoSM is actually incorporated as an interfaith art church. And they are in the process of building a visionary art temple called Entheon. Allyson also discusses her paintings of secret and sacred language.

Allyson Grey received an MFA from Tufts University, and she has long been an art educator, arts organizer and muse to artists worldwide. Together, Allyson and Alex have painted on stage in dozens of cities before thousands of dancing young people at festivals and arenas across five continents including Broadway theaters in New York City. As long-time advocates of "cognitive liberty," a growing international "sacramental culture" has embraced the Grey's as mapmakers and spokespersons for the visionary realm.

To learn more about CoSM and the building of Entheon, visit http://www.Cosm.org.

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. At The Alchemist’s Kitchen, we are now entering the Season of the Witch — a celebration of the Feminist, Counter-mainstream Witch Movement. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20.  

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Alberto Villoldo explains in today’s episode, when shamans are trained in an ancient lineage, they become versed in the way that spiritual energy operates in the universe. They develop special abilities that are present but latent in all of us, including the ability to see auras, clairvoyant communication, and the channeling of spirits. In the shamanic world view, the tool kit you use to heal the sick also provides the context for understanding what illness actually is — an energetic imbalance that has as much or more to do with your emotional center as it does with your physiological mechanics. 

Alberto Villoldo has trained as a psychologist and medical anthropologist, and has mastered the healing practices of the Amazonian and Andean shamans. Alberto directs the Four Winds Society, where he trains individuals in the practice of shamanic medicine. He has written numerous bestselling books, including Shaman Healer Sage, The Four Insights, One Spirit Medicine, and Dance of the Four Winds. His latest book, The Heart of the Shaman: Stories and Practices of the Luminous Warrior, was just released from Hay House. 

You can find out more about Alberto VIlloldo and his work at http://www.thefourwinds.com.

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20.  

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can the right thought, properly focused and articulated, get you what you want? Mitch Horowitz insists that it can. He sums it up with the phrase, “Thoughts are causative.” In his forthcoming book, The Miracle Club, Mitch brings a level of intelligent reflection to the power of the mind to create reality that it hasn’t see since the days of William James. As you will hear, he’s also a wonderful teacher with a passionate feeling for his subject. 

Mitch Horowitz is a PEN Award-winning historian and the author of Occult America and One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life. Mitch has written on everything from the war on witches to the secret life of Ronald Reagan for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Salon, and Time.com. Mitch was the longtime vice president and executive editor at TarcherPerigee, a division of Penguin Random House, where he published leading esoteric authors, including David Lynch, Paul Selig, and Manly P. Hall. 

To learn more from Mitch about the power of positive thinking, check out his 3-part webinar, Discovering and Using the Powers of Your Mind, where Mitch will train you in practical, everyday techniques you can apply in your own life. It starts on Monday, September 17, 2018. Find out more at Evolver Learning Lab — https://www.evolverlearninglab.com/collections/courses/products/discovering-and-using-the-powers-of-your-mind-mitch-horowitz.

You can find out more about Mitch Horowitz at http://www.mitchhorowitz.com.

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast.

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20. 

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ecstatic experiences can be doorways to knowing, opportunities for profound transformation. The British philosopher Jules Evans joins Ken to discuss his own exploration of ecstasy, as chronicled in his book “The Art of Losing Control: A Philosopher’s Search for Ecstatic Experience.” They start with the stoics and the practical side of ancient Greek philosophy, then dive into the many ways that the ecstatic is now making itself available in our world, after centuries of repression— from raves to next generation Jesus Freaks to plant spirit medicine to rock music. Along the way, Jules describes his own Near Death Experience and how that has shaped his relationship to the ecstatic. And they explore the importance of community in mystical practice – the teaching, sharing and support of other people.  

Jules Evans is a research fellow at the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary University in London. His first book, "Philosophy for Life: And Other Dangerous Situations," has been published in 19 countries and was a London Times Book of the Year. He has talked about philosophy on BBC 2’s Newsnight, the Culture Show, on BBC Radio 3 and 4, RTE-1 and ABC Australia; and is a BBC New Generation Thinker. Publications Jules has written for include the Financial Times, The Times, the Guardian, the Spectator and WIRED. 

You can find out more about Jules Evans at http://www.philosophyforlife.org

Follow us on Instagram @TheEvolverPodcast: https://www.instagram.com/theevolverpodcast

The Evolver is sponsored by The Alchemist’s Kitchen, a botanical dispensary dedicated to the power of plants, where you can ask an herbalist to recommend the herbal remedy that’s most right for you. Visit https://www.thealchemistskitchen.com. For a 20% discount off any online purchase, use the code: podcast20. 

Theme music is “Measure by Measure,” courtesy of DJ Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller (@djspooky), from his album The Secret Song, and interstitial music are tracks by The Human Experience: "Sunu" from the album Soul Visions with Rising Appalachia, and Here for a Moment on the album Gone Gone Beyond. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.